The Right Time to Fall
by acnologia07
Summary: Natsu and Erza have known each other for years and finally decide to get married however their lives are turned upside down when they meet a barmaid and homeless man with unknown origins. Their hearts will be torn to pieces as they find out the true meaning of love and realise that sometimes it's never the right time to fall. T for use of alcohol. New chapter: Turmoil.
1. Childhood Love

**The right time to fall**

 **Chapter 1**

The sound of the telephone rang through the house. "(Sigh) I wonder who's calling right now." The beautiful red head, Erza Scarlet picked up her bag taking her phone out. She was wearing a white laced top with a blue skirt. Her hair was out flowing all the way down to her waist and her fringe covered part of her left eye. Her skin was a pale white, but that only made her other features more pronounce.

A smile slowly crept on her face as she looked at caller ID. It was her childhood friend Natsu Dragneel calling. She took a minute before answering the phone, mentally preparing herself, and then began to fiddle with her hair.

"Hey Natsu! Why are-"

Natsu broke her off and said "Erza we need to meet."

"What? Now!" Her hand slipped from her hair and she grasped the phone with two hands on her left ear.

"Yes right now! There is something important I have to tell you." The sense of urgency was being portrayed clearly through Natsu's voice.

"Can't you just tell me over the phone?" Erza inquired, as she sat down on her sofa. Her right hand left the phone only to squeeze the armrest next to her.

"No I can't, but meet me at your favourite place in 2 hours, ok? Bye."

"Wait Natsu…! (Beep beep) He hung up before he told me where." Erza sighed.

 _Erza: Well he did say my favourite place… a cake shop, yes I guess that is my favourite place but which one? Actually I remember having this conversation with Natsu once, I told him my favourite place was the cake shop next to the sea side. I love to eat cake whilst watching the sun set in the ocean, the array of colours would always immerse me in their splendour. It was as if the sun's rays were dancing in the ocean, and the cake I'd be eating would dance in my mouth just like it. Erza concentrate! Would Natsu even remember that? I guess I'll have to trust him._

Erza looked at the clock and saw that the time was 6:35. "Ok so I have an hour and a half to get dressed as it takes at least half an hour to reach the port. That should be enough time."

She grabbed a towel and headed straight to the shower.

 **Half way across town**

"So can I get that special ordered? I need it in 2 hours" Natsu asked. He was by the sea port at the famous 'Cake le Crepe' bakery.

"I'm not sure, it's quiet a tall order" The baker at the cake shop replied. The pleasant odour of fresh bread wafted into Natsu's nose, consequently making his mouth water. He fought off his hungry urge and bargained "Can't you make an exception for me?" He hesitated for a moment then said "It's for your number 1 customer, Erza Scarlet."

"ERZA!? Why didn't you say that earlier? If it's for her then I can do it in one hour!" The baker dropped everything he had in his hands on the counter and wiped them on his apron.

"No, you don't need to push yourself that much, but I really need it in 2 hours though, ok?"

"Sure thing!" The baker immediately ran to the front entrance of the cake shop and flipped the open sign to 'closed'.

 _Natsu: I knew that would work. Hehe! I think it was 2 years ago when the council was going to close this place down for not being able to pay rent. The moment Erza heard I think all her 3 meals had cake in it. She single handily saved his shop. The press caught wind of Erza's crazy action and wrote an article, before you knew it, this cake shop was a hot spot in the city. Most of the time it would be packed, but the baker would always make a special reservation for Erza. I really didn't want to mention her as this was supposed to be my gift to Erza, but I might as well take advantage of her name a tiny bit._

Natsu left the cake shop only to be met by Gray Fullbuster. "I just heard the good news man, I'm happy for you!" Gray hit Natsu's back, which instigated Natsu, but he kept his cool. Natsu was wearing black trousers with a black waist coat. He had a white shirt on with a red rose in his front pocket. His hair was a salmon pink that spiked up and his smile could lift anyone's spirit.

"Did Lisanna tell you?" Natsu inquired.

"Yeah of course she did! You know she is horrendous at keeping secrets, I don't even know why you told her, Lisanna will most likely tell Erza you know."

"I trust her enough to know she would never tell Erza. So are you going to stay and watch then?" Natsu said with minimal surprise.

"Why do you think I'm here? I would never miss this, oh and all the Strauss' are coming too." Gray informed Natsu. He was wearing a blue chequered shirt and black trousers. He was going to come in shorts but Juvia forced him out of it. His hair was black however sometimes, if the sunlight is shining at it, it looks blue.

"Well, you better hide I don't want you guys to ruin today." Natsu warned.

"That's a bit harsh" Gray gave Natsu a smile. "It's nice to know you are finally growing up though… took you long enough!"

Natsu made a swing for Gray face, however he managed to dodge it. "You really don't want to get into a fight 2 hours before the big moment do you?"

Natsu scowled at Gray then asked "How's things with you and Juvia then?"

"She's doing fine… apart from morning sickness and her cravings at 3am in the morning." Gray words overflowed with sarcasm.

"When's the due date?" Natsu shoved his hands in his pocket.

"In a month, she couldn't make it today because of the baby, sorry." Gray apologised.

"Well today wasn't supposed to be a gathering anyway." Natsu said.

"Oh, but it is…" Gray gulped then said "I wasn't meant to tell you, but seeing as this could pose as a massive problem, I might as well tell you. Most people from fairy high are coming, even the infamous Laxus Dreyar! After we graduated from high school 10 years ago, the two of you were notorious remember, Erza the red headed devil and Natsu the fireball. Even other schools knew about you and they still do!"

"Gray… How many people are coming?" Natsu voice began to break, he didn't mind 5 even 10 people watching but from what Gray was saying a hell of a lot more where coming.

"Maybe around 30 give or take a few…" Gray gave an unconvincing laugh.

"30! What the hell?! This wasn't supposed to be a social event! Crap!" Natsu punched his own hand and started to pace down the dock, but stopped after a few steps. He turned to face Gray and instructed "Now isn't the time to be worrying about this… Gray you deal with the intruders, they make a sound and I'll show them the true meaning of fireball. Erza should be coming in the next hour or so and I'm not nearly prepared!" Natsu broke out in to a sprint, running down the port holding up the back of his hand to Gray, saying goodbye.

"Yeah leave me with the dirty work why don't you…" Gray mumbled to himself and went towards the other direction.

 **Erza's flat**

Erza left the shower completely naked; since she lived alone she didn't need to worry about anyone seeing her. She walked down the hall towards the room filled with all her clothes, all the while drying her luscious hair with a towel. The room that held her clothes was huge yet it was still not big enough to contain all of them, a lot of her more fanciful clothes were kept in her bedroom for her to admire whilst she fell asleep.

She casually looked through her clothes until she found light blue skinny jeans and a red flowing tail top. As she was just about to wear it the front door bell rang, causing her to put down her clothes and wear just a bathrobe to the front door.

After opening the door a young girl jumped on top of Erza "Erza long time no see!"

"Lisanna? What's gotten into you? You seem a bit more energetic than usual." Erza said pulling off her dear friend.

"Do I? That's unusual! Haha!" Lisanna badly acted. Erza gave her a suspicious eye but then dismissed it, Lisanna had always been a little bit… odd.

Erza looked past Lisanna to see all the Strauss siblings had come, even Elfman.

"Nice place you have Erza, and Lisanna act properly!" Mira-Jane gave Lisanna a death stare saying ' _do anything else stupid and you will pay'._ She then forced herself into Erza's flat.

Elfman followed his sister in an awkward manner, he had obviously been forced to come.

Elfman was wearing a sleeveless green shirt with dark blue jeans. His older sister, Mira, had come in just a plain white dress that reached her knees, and Lisanna had worn a short sleeved, crème top with blue shorts.

Mira had a somewhat split personality, most of the time she was a kind compassionate girl, however sometimes, only very rarely though, she would resemble a demon.

It was a trait that all the Strauss siblings shared, Mira was a demon, Lisanna an animal and Elfman, though kind at heart, looked like a beast, harsh but true. Not only did they have that in common, they also had uniquely white, silky hair it was almost the same colour as snow.

"Mira, I'm sorry but I'm going out now, could you come by some other time?" Erza said whilst blocking Mira's path into her home.

"You're going out! With who?" Mira asked, Lisanna was in the corner trying to stop herself from giggling.

"Natsu" Erza said it without any enthusiasm, she wanted to get ready desperately and wanted to show the Strauss' that they needed to leave without actually saying it.

"Natsu, really?! So what are you wearing?" Mira wasn't backing down and ignored the hint from Erza.

"Clothes…" Erza said with impatience. Mira grabbed Erza by her hand and said "Oh come on please show me!"

Mira gave Erza doggy eyes forcing her to agree. "Lisanna come with me, Elfman… just sit in the living room and wait."

 _Elfman: Why did I even come if they were just going to push me in the corner?_

He looked at Erza for directions.

"Third door to your left." Elfman nodded and obediently followed his sister's orders.

Erza then turned around and led the two sisters to her room. There was a huge bed on one side and a dressing table on the other. Mannequins were at the foot of Erza's bed modelling her favourite dresses. Lisanna ran up to one of the mannequins and asked "Are you going to wear this one then?" It was a pink dress that showed a lot of cleavage and the back was completely open. Sequins were all over the dress making a beautiful flower pattern that glistened in the light of the room.

Mira then ran to another mannequin "Or maybe this one?"

This dress was completely black it had many layers of flowing black cloth, making it look so delicate and angelic.

"No I'm not wearing either of those, I'm actually wearing this." Erza said picking up her red top and jeans.

"Cute but no…" Lisanna said.

"I'm not going to allow you to wear that Erza. You're going to wear this." Mira ordered pointing at the black dress.

"Why?! That would be overdoing it… I don't want to be overdressed." Erza argued.

A dark aura surrounded Mira, but she just about managed to subdue it and forced a cute smile. "Sometimes, us girls just overdo it because we can."

"But…" Erza started but stopped immediately. Mira unleashed her hellish aura, Erza wasn't scared of the aura but she would try her best to avoid it, as it would bring out the demon inside of her too.

"Ok fine I'll wea-" Lisanna grabbed Erza's robe and tried to pull it off however she failed as Erza made her go flying onto the bed. "LISANNA! I can change on my own, now both of you out!" Erza screamed holding her bedroom door open.

The siblings walked out and waited outside the door for a few minutes until Erza came out wearing the fabulous dress. "What do you think?" Erza asked posing and pouting.

A tear fell from Lisanna's eye and once again tried to jump upon Erza "IT'S PERFECT!"

Luckily, Mira saw this coming and stopped her sister before anything happened. "Ok now it's time for the make-up and hair" Mira said pushing the two girls back into Erza's room.

 **An hour later – the port**

Natsu was pacing back and forth next to a table that was outside with a clear view of the sea. The sun was in the later hours, so was slowly heading towards the sea.

 _Natsu: I'M SCARED… DEFINITELY NOT PREPARED. Actually I am but then I'm not! Erm… I have double checked everything and all the intruders are hiding somewhere right now… at least that's was what Gray told me. Erza will be here any moment!_

 _Erza: I think Lisanna and Mira over did me waaaay too much… why didn't I stop them? Maybe it's because I think I look so damn sexy in this… anyway I hope Natsu won't mind. Come to think of it why did the Strauss' come? Did they only come to do me up? But how did they know? They left as soon as they finished my make-up, then wished me luck. I'm thinking way too much into things, just clear your head Erza!_

The cab parked at the side of the port, Erza came out and just as she was going to pay the driver, Natsu appeared out of no-where and paid him. "Really Natsu you didn't have to do th…"

The moment Erza laid eyes upon Natsu she saw he was wearing a suit, everything stopped in her brain for a few seconds, then slowly began to reboot itself.

 _Erza: what's going on? Natsu in a SUIT that's… unbelievable. I don't know what to say._

"Since I'm the one who told you to come, I'll have to be the one who pays for the travels fare at least." Natsu gave a calm smile, he held his hand allowing Erza to grab hold of it and he pulled her out gracefully.

Erza was too stunned to speak, her body was unable to move so she just followed Natsu's lead. He led her to the side of the port to a round table.

"You look beautiful" Natsu said.

The sun was at its lowest point, he got down to one knee and removed a petit box from his pocket. Erza's eyes grew wide, she knew what was coming. Her brain was finally making all the links.

The baker came out with him a huge cake that had lettering on top. It said "Will you marry me?" Natsu held out the ring.

Erza placed her hand over her mouth.

 _Erza: this is happening way too fast. He's proposing to me. Natsu is finally proposing to me!_

Erza nodded her head and placed her hand out, Natsu removed the ring and placed it on Erza's finger. Tears fell from her eyes.


	2. A Fateful Encounter

**Chapter 2**

"CONGRATULATIONS!" Everyone emerged from their hiding places, taking pictures and throwing confetti. Laxus stuck out from the crowd because he was acting as if this was beneath him. Mira tried her very best to make him act more lively however he was the only one who would never flinch at Mira's demonic alter personality.

Gajeel held little Rose on his shoulders, Levy was standing right beside him throwing confetti.

"Daddy, why aren't you throwing paper like mommy?" Rose asked Gajeel innocently.

"Because mommy is very close to the people getting married. They went to the same high school, fairy high. Whereas I studied at Phantom academy, sweetheart." Gajeel said to his daughter.

"They're getting married! Wow! But where's the prince with his white horse." She asked whilst looking around in hopes of seeing it.

"Hey Levy you read her way too many bedtime stories!" Levy gave him a disapproving look, then ignored him and carried on throwing confetti at the new couple.

Cana was shouting a slurred congratulations to Natsu, throwing up her bottle of wine in the air, when she saw Mr Macao Conbolt amongst the crowd. "Sir what are you doing here?" She asked.

"The red devil and the fireball are finally settling down! I wasn't going to miss this." Beside Macao was his 16 year old son Romeo. He was holding the hand of a blue haired girl of the same age. "Hey Romeo! So who's that with you then? Is she your girlfriend?" Cana said laughing and took another gulp of her drink.

The girl immediately blushed. Her hair was tied into two ponytails and she was wearing a green strapless dress that was knee length. "My name is Wendy Marvel" She squeaked out immediately letting go of Romeo's hand.

"Wendy huh? Why did you let go of his hand? It looked cute!"

Wendy was speechless and didn't know what to do next. It was clearly visible from her face that she was having a panic attack. "Hey! Don't hesitate just grab each other's hand and kiss already!"

"Romeo isn't kissing anyone under my watch!" Macao said with authority. He grabbed Romeo by the shoulder and pulled him close. "DAD! Don't embarrass me in front of everyone! Wendy and I have been going out for over a month already, you don't need to be so over protective."

The word overprotective seemed to have hit a cord in Macao and he let go of his son and drifted into his own little world about how his wife left him. Romeo went back to Wendy's side and held her hand again. He gave the embarrassed Wendy a reassuring smile and she returned one back to him.

"So you two are together! Congratulations! Let's drink!" Cana brought out another bottle of alcohol from her bag. As soon as Macao saw the bottle, he snapped back into his senses. "Don't you dare Cana!" Macao threatened.

"You all knew!" Erza exclaimed, then she saw the Strauss siblings amongst the crowd.

 _Erza: no wonder they came to my house!_

 _Natsu: YES! She said yes! I did everything I possibly could to make this as perfect as possible but it isn't over yet._

Natsu looked over to Gray with a look saying _'these people need to go!'_

Gray immediately got the message and tried his best to usher everyone away, however they were all submerged into giving their good graces to newly engaged couple. After a few minutes of failing Natsu's orders he told Mira. After 5 minutes, there wasn't a single soul in sight.

Natsu went to the table and lifted the knife. "Come on then! We can't let this beautiful cake go bad."

Erza immediately ran to his side and held the knife with him, they cut the cake together. Natsu lifted the first piece and fed Erza. "It's your favourite, strawberry cake"

"Mmm! Delicious!" Erza said with her mouth filled with cake. The two of them, with slices of cakes, stood at the edge of the port to marvel at the glorious sunset. Today was a blessing, they both knew it; Erza rested her head against Natsu's shoulder.

"Thank you so much Natsu, today was better than anything I've dreamt of." Erza said still gazing off into the distance of the blue ocean.

"Why are you thanking me? You deserved everything you got today, it was all way overdue. Anyway I should be thanking you for being the angel that graced my life. Not only that, but for saying yes to become my wife."

After the sun set Erza looked at Natsu. "Today isn't over yet Erza!" Natsu said, and as if on cue, fireworks lit the sky.

Natsu sat back down on the table and pulled out a chair for Erza to sit on. When he sat down, waiters came serving all kinds of food. They even brought a rose and a lit candle to the table. On the table was soup, marinated chicken, lasagne and wine.

After eating to their hearts content Erza just sat there gazing into Natsu's eyes.

"What are you thinking?" He asked.

"How did you even manage to do this? This must have been so…"

"Erza, a man has his ways" He said with a mischievous smile. "Just enjoy it"

"Oh I have! Today was wonderful!" Erza said with beautiful smile.

"You're acting like it's done!"

"There's more!" Erza replied with surprise.

"Yes, just one more thing." Natsu put his head done, he was clearly blushing ferociously. "I've worked really hard the last few weeks to perfect this."

"Perfect…? WEEKS!"

Natsu lifted his hand towards the bakery and used his hand to indicate someone to come out. Almost a moment later a man with a cello came out, followed by 3 other men. Each one with their own instrument, a flute, a violin and one with a clarinet.

They began to play the waltz, Natsu arose from his seat and got Erza to stand up too. He grabbed Erza's right hand with his left, and placed his right hand on her waist. Erza, almost instinctively placed her hand upon Natsu's shoulder.

"Follow my lead OK?" Natsu whispered in her ear as he pulled her close to his body. They could feel each other's warmth, their breaths, and their rampaging heart beats.

Erza swallowed hard and Natsu began to dance. She almost immediately realised the hand on Natsu's shoulder was placed very awkwardly so she moved it and placed it on Natsu's back, resting her head on his shoulder. She closed her eyes allowing her to lose herself in the music and Natsu's movement.

He would occasionally lose his footing but that didn't even slightly ruin the mood. They danced like that for at least 10 minutes, Erza lifted her head and looked at Natsu's face. He was concentrating so hard, trying to make sure he didn't make another mistake.

Erza felt it was so adorably cute, she felt her face draw nearer to his. She hesitated but then remembered they were engaged and carried on. The wall that was built to separate friends from lovers had completely disappeared.

Erza gave Natsu such a delicate kiss, and he returned it.

However the moment they completely embraced, Natsu felt a water droplet fall on his face. He reluctantly pulled his lips away from Erza's and looked up. Not a second later it was raining like never before. Since they were completely immersed in each other and it was night time, no one noticed the dark clouds form in the night sky.

The band quickly ran inside the bakery, however Natsu and Erza just stood there, laughed and once again, kissed. That was when they heard the sound of a camera.

They looked towards the road only to see Lisanna there, with a camera in her hand. All she did was wave then she began to run. Natsu immediately began to chase after her and Erza removed her heels before catching up to Natsu. However along the way they lost sight her. Natsu found a small shelter near them and led Erza there, the two of them completely drenched just sat there laughing and coming up with ways to take revenge and get the photos back.

Knowing Lisanna by tomorrow morning everyone in Magnolia will have seen the picture of the two of them kissing.

Erza got her purse out and checked the time, 9:54. "Natsu, thank you so much for tonight and thank you for becoming my fiancé... I HAVE A FIANCE! We need to make so many arrangements and invitations and-"

Natsu pulled Erza into another kiss. "You're thinking way too much Erza, we will sort it out in the next few days. If you want you can come to my house tonight." Natsu offered.

Erza only shook her head. "I want the first night we spend together on our wedding day."

"Sure" Natsu got up and called for a cab. "The least I could do is escort you home." He opened the door allowing Erza to go in, then he too, got into the cab.

He dropped her home and she gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Good night Erza!" Natsu called and with that, he left.

She was going to become Mrs Erza Dragneel: that thought alone didn't allow her to sleep at all that night.

Before the sun had even risen, Erza got out of bed. "I'm bored…" She mumbled to herself. She got something to eat, then saw her keys.

 _Erza: I guess I could... no it's way too late… I mean early to do that. But then again I'm bored… Ok just for a little ride!_

She ran to her room and wore leather from head to toe, she grabbed her keys and helmet and sprinted out her flat. Excitement had made her drunk as she got on her slick black motorbike.

She revved the engine, it somehow gave her relief. She would have ridden her bike to the port yesterday if it were not for her clothes.

She got her motorbike out and sped down the road.

It was still dark outside, the sun hadn't risen yet. Erza rode around the, what seemed, deserted town. The rain from the night before had left many puddles so her boots were very much wet.

She stop at some red lights, when someone grabbed her from behind. "You got some nice wheels, mind if we borrow them"

The man grabbed Erza's breast making her go red but before she went psycho on him, a man with blue hair came out of nowhere.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" The blue haired man shouted.

 _Erza: is he going to save me? Hehe! Cute! I been learning karate since I was a kid, now I am an official black belt. This guy's no problem for me, but I want to see how good this guy is. I mean he gathered up the courage to stand up to this rebel!_

"Let him go!" He warned.

 _Erza: him? I guess with all this leather on me you can't exactly tell what gender I am, but still… I thought maybe my breast would be a giveaway..._

"And what if I don't? What will you do then?" The man answered back, laughing.

"If it comes to that then I guess… I'll have to sort you out" The blue man shouted back. He was wearing a plain black top with dark trousers that had many rips in it. On the right side of his face was a mysterious marking, like a tattoo, that went over his eye. His blue hair was short just about reaching his ears.

"Really? YOU'LL SORT ME OUT! Let me remind you where you stand in this world. Wait did I say stand? I forgot you are just trash in this world, hobo!" The man let go of Erza and revealed a hidden penknife tucked into his trousers. He took it out and recklessly started to slash the air.

 _Erza: this has gone on for long enough, that idiot didn't even think of me as a threat, he has even shown his back to me. Too easy._

Erza got up and kicked the rebel right on the head making him go flying. "YOU SHOULDN'T UNDERESTIMATE YOUR OPPONENTS!" She screamed at the unconscious body. The blue man was just staring at her blankly.

"Thanks a lot for helping me. The names Erza Scarlett." She said holding her hand out.

"…. Your voice…. You are a girl." The man's eyes were wide in shock.

"It's rude not to give your name after someone has given you theirs ya know, and yes I'm a girl" Erza responded.

"Huh…oh my name." The man hesitated for a little then revealed. "It's Jellal, Jellal Fernandes. And seeing how you sorted that situation out I don't think you even needed my help" He said grabbing Erza's extended hand.

"Jellal Fernandes huh? Somehow that rings a bell…" Jellal felt a drop of sweat form on his forehead.

"Oh well." Erza said with a shrug. Jellal felt a surge of relief and asked whilst letting go of Erza's hand. "By the way, what's a young women like you doing out here so late?"

"I could ask you the same question and it isn't late, it's just really early." Erza smiled whilst justifying herself as she got back on her bike. "Anyway thanks again, see ya around Jellal!"

"Bye" He replied.

Erza drove down the street and lifted the back of her hand to Jellal, saying goodbye.

 _Jellal: A girl did that! Oh crap I do not want to get on her bad side… But I wonder how Erza Scarlett looks like underneath that helmet. I guess I'll never know but her voice was so soothing, I think it might have been etched into my mind…_ _ **Thanks for helping me. The names Erza Scarlett…**_

BEEEEEEEEP!

The sound of the horn pulled Jellal back to his senses, he had forgotten he was still in the middle of the road. Just as he was about to run to the sidewalk he noticed the unconscious body of the rebel on the floor. He picked the man up and dragged him off the road to the pavement.

 _Jellal: I'll just leave him here then._

He walked down the next street looking for his next meal.

Erza reached home just as the sun was rising. "I guess I was out for a while… But at least I'm tired now, I'll probably be able to finally get some sleep!"

Erza parked her motorbike in the buildings garage and walked up the stairs to her flat. She unlocked the door kicked off her shoes and jumped on her bed, not even bothering to remove her clothes. She fell asleep in a matter of seconds.

Since Erza was so knackered she didn't realise one of her shoes got wedged in the front door, leaving it unlocked. A few hours later a man appeared at her front door, with him was a red bag.


	3. The Dragons Head

_**AN- I am so sorry! i uploaded the wrong chapter yesterday woops. that was actually chapter 8 for my other fanfiction of naruto and fairytail; Ninja's & Fairies. Here's the real chapter 3 for the right time to fall. I only realised this by accident and ENJOY the new RIGHT chapter.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

Since Erza was so knackered she didn't realise one of her shoes got wedged in the front door. A few hours later a man appeared at her front door, with him a red bag.

The man walked into the flat, without making a sound, and started to check every room. The living room, the kitchen, slowly inching towards Erza's bedroom.

The door creaked open. He went besides Erza's bed and placed his hand on her neck.

Erza's eyes shot open, grabbing the man's hand, she jumped off her bed and locked his arm behind his back.

"What are you doing in my house?!" Erza demanded.

"Nothing I swear! You had left the door open so I came in to check on you Erza! It's me Mark, the postman!" He pleaded.

"Prove it!" She made the lock tighter, causing him to shout out.

"There's my bag! It's filled with all the letters and packages for this entire neighbourhood!" Mark cried.

Erza pushed him forward, towards the bag. Sweat trickled down his face.

"OPEN IT!"

"Yes ma'am" He showed Erza the letters.

"Fine I believe you're my postman, but then answer me this, how'd you know my name!?" She interrogated.

"Like I said I'm your postman, your names are written on the letters. I've been doing this neighbourhood for years and I've just picked up the names! Please let go of my arm, it's going to break off!" Mark was clearly in agonising pain so Erza concluded he wasn't lying.

It was something Erza was sure about, people don't lie when they are in danger. She had done it to enough people to know that, hence the name the red headed devil. She wasn't as violent as she was whilst she was in Fairy Tail but she still had some techniques and occasionally practiced on her mannequins.

She let go of his arm and apologised. Mark ran to the other side of the room, rubbing his arm.

"You said I left my door open, right?" Erza sat on her bed facing the post man.

"Yes, one of your shoes stopped it from closing properly." He explained.

"Well then thank you for your concern." Erza gave him a comforting smile, however Mark was still petrified of her.

"Do you want something to eat or drink?" Erza offered, the man immediately declined saying he had to finish posting the rest of his letters. He gave Erza's hers and left her flat without another word and shut the door.

"(Sigh) Bill, bill, a new takeaway has opened down the street and another bill. I don't even know how mum and dad could manage all of these things!" Erza threw the bills on her bed, then debated with herself whether she wanted to go back to bed or have breakfast. The day's events had already woken her up completely so she opted for breakfast so walked into the bathroom to freshen up.

Erza was a fashion designer, hence the mountain of clothes she owned and the mannequins. She loved her job as it rarely interfered with her social life and hours were very flexible. She could work at home, and the only times she needed to leave the house for work was for a cat walk. More often than not, she would be one of the main models.

Erza father had died when she was five he was a soldier, KIA and her mother died when she was 17 from an illness. Ever since Erza was little she had been interested in clothes designs, making a new design almost every week. By the time she was 15 she had hundreds. These designs came in very useful when her mother died, she sold her designs to different clothes companies in order to make money. Levy came up with the idea, and that was how her designing career started.

After she left the bathroom she went into the kitchen and made herself toast, a sunny-side up, a hot cup of tea and poured herself some orange juice. She checked the time, 7am. It was still too early to even think about going to Natsu's place to make arrangements for the wedding. She took her food into the living room and started to watch TV.

 **The previous night**

"Good night Erza!" Natsu called, he shut the cab door and told the cab driver to go to the nearest bar. After a few minutes the cab stopped in front of 'The Dragon's Head'.

"Hey this bar is close to my place, how come I've never noticed it?" Natsu asked the cab driver.

"It only opened a month or so ago, pretty good in my opinion. The girls here are sexy, some are as sexy as your lady." The cab driver responded.

"That lady is my fiancé!" Natsu gave the cab driver a dark stare and handed the fare to him. The driver left without uttering another word.

Natsu walked into the bar casually and sat on the bench next to the counter. A blonde girl with two ponytails had her back facing him, making a drink for one of the other customers. "Be with you in a sec!" She called out. Natsu then realised she was talking to him and replied "Don't worry take your time, I'm not in any hurry!"

"I'm done!" The blonde girl said with delight, she turned around gracefully. She had brown eyes, a petite nose and a huge smile that could light up anyone's day. She placed the drink in front of the customer on Natsu's left. "Enjoy!" She chirped.

That's when she looked at Natsu. "So what do you want?" She tilted her head to one side giving him a pleasant smile. Without noticing, Natsu was checking out Lucy's body from head to toe.

She was wearing a black dress that reached her mid-thigh, upon that was a white apron. Put in simple terms she looked like an orthodox English maid.

His eyes wondered over the blonde girl's left breast. 'Lucy' was written on it. When Natsu finally regained his thoughts he saw that Lucy was still in the same position, however he could tell Lucy was beginning to feel uncomfortable and began to laugh.

"Sir why are you laughing?" Lucy asked innocently.

"Sir? Just call me Natsu, Lucy and I'm laughing 'cuz you look really cute right now!" Natsu returned Lucy's smile, only after he saw Lucy's face blush bright red did he realise what he had just said. He looked down "Erm…" Natsu scratched his head "Could I have some shots? … Please"

Within a few seconds Lucy placed a small glass in front of Natsu and poured the intoxicant into the glass, as she was just about to put the bottle away Natsu grabbed her hand. "Leave it here will ya?"

So Lucy did, every so often she would refill Natsu's glass. 5 shots later Natsu began telling Lucy all about how he proposed to Erza.

"And her boobs are this big!" Natsu placed his hands half a meter away from his body.

"I'm sure they aren't that big Natsu"

"I think they're the same size as yours" He slurred. Lucy immediately placed her hands on top of her chest and blushed.

"(hic) Did I embarrass you? (hic)" Natsu asked.

Lucy didn't answer and poured another glass for Natsu.

 _Lucy: Remember what the boss said. He told me you give the customer as much alcohol he wants, then when he can't speak properly call a cab and send him home. But remember to take all the money you need from him and take a little extra for the effort and stuff. Well Natsu can still speak properly so just give him some more shots and he can go home. But I have to admit apart from the sexual harassment he is a pretty interesting guy. And it's so adorable he went to such great lengths just to propose. Erza is truly a lucky women._

10 glasses later was when Natsu finally started to talk gibberish. Lucy sighed a breath of relief. She looked at her watch, 1am. She went round the counter and told one of her co-workers to cover for her. She lifted Natsu's shoulder and hauled him up. "OK? It's time for you to go home Natsu?"

"Home? (hic)"

"Yes home" She replied with a smile.

"Your home?" Natsu asked.

"Not my home, yours Natsu"

"Why you coming my home?"

"I'm not, all I'm doing is helping you get there safely."

"You nice Lucy!" Natsu gave a feeble smile.

Lucy stood at the side of the pavement and held out her hand until a cab driver came. "Ok it's time for you to go home Natsu" She said whilst trying to push Natsu in to the cab, however he resisted.

"(hic) Me don't need cab. Home 2 blocks away!" Natsu stated, he got out of Lucy's grasp and started to walk down the street.

"So does he need a lift or not?" The cab driver said impatiently. "I guess not, sorry" Lucy apologised.

"Stupid women" The driver mumbled as he was driving off, however he jerked to a stop and started to beep like crazy. Lucy looked up to see Natsu had wondered off onto the road. She quickly ran to his aid and guided him back to the pavement.

The cab driver rolled down his window and shouted "You should take more care of your customers, slut!"

"Shut the hell up and get lost, you perv!" She screamed back. After the cab driver cursed at her and drove away she looked around, just hoping no one woke up because of the commotion that had just occurred. She saw that no lights had switched on and assumed they were safe.

"Lucy you angry?" Natsu asked innocently.

"No!" She snapped, she then turned to Natsu and saw he was trying his best to keep quiet however he was bursting to ask something. "Sorry Natsu, I'm not angry at you" She smiled at him then said. "Go ahead tell me what you're thinking then"

"…Lucy why you back?" Natsu hesitated then looked at her in bewilderment.

"I'm going to walk you home Natsu." She replied, firmly grabbing his arm.

 _Lucy: wow his arms are so toned and strong. Does Natsu work out?_

Lucy shook her head. "Now where do you live?"

Natsu pointed at a dust bin and said "there", he then began to laugh. This slightly annoyed Lucy but she calmed herself. "Please could you tell me?"

"Ok, hmm" Natsu began to think really hard, squinting his eyes, looking down then looking up, hands changing position on his face. The whole scene just made Lucy laugh. "Why are you laughing Luce?"

"Luce? No one's ever called me that but I think you look kinda cute…" Lucy just realised she had recreated the event from just a couple of hours ago, just the positions had swapped. She looked away and said "Just tell me where you live Natsu"

"Why? So you can stalk me?" Natsu asked with a stern look on his face.

Lucy giggled a little but she managed to contain most of it letting out only a smile. "No Natsu I don't want to stalk you."

"Me wouldn't mind Luce stalking me…" Natsu admitted. He then changed the topic "I live 7th Stale Street."

"That's just down the road!" Lucy picked up her pace and walked Natsu to his house. When he reached he had a sad look on his face. "Hey Natsu what's the matter?"

"You goin' now Luce?"

"Yeah I have to get back to work or my boss will kill me" Lucy gave Natsu a smile, then began to leave. "Will I see Luce again?" Natsu called out.

"Yes, since you live so close to my work place. Later Natsu!" Lucy spun around waved good bye and left.

* * *

 _ **AN- Please review! I'm not sure if this is a very good fanfiction yet and would love it if someone could tell me how to improve it. Enjoy!**_


	4. Who's that Girl?

**Chapter 4**

 **Natsu's home**

"Hmmm…. Ouch my head! What the hell did I even do last night?" Natsu got out of bed with his hand on his head. He felt like a wreck and his throat was burning. Drinking a glass of water from the kitchen, Natsu ran to the bathroom desperately, lifting up the toilet seat, he vomited a bucket load.

"Damn!" He just waited over the toilet for a few seconds until he knew the sick had subsided. He flushed the toilet then brushed his teeth, trying his very best to get the foul taste out of his mouth.

Natsu ate a paracetamol, he had hoped it would help ease his headache, then made himself breakfast, as he was pouring out the juice flashes of the night before came flooding back into his memory. The dragon's head pub, the alcohol, the blonde waitress.

He tried to piece it together, but soon he realised the more he thought about it, the more his brain would hurt.

 _Natsu: Its 12 O'clock now… Erza should be coming round at around 3 to sort out the arrangements for the wedding. I need to get rid of this hangover soon, or she'll… I don't even want to think about it._

After eating his breakfast, Natsu got changed for his daily run and left his house. Usually, Natsu never drank, he was a fitness fanatic; however yesterday was a rare exception. It was still unclear to Natsu as to why he went drinking last night, but he did know he had to get fit before Erza came and realised something was off.

Natsu grabbed a bottle of water and ran out the house, for most of the journey he felt incredibly ill, but after a while he got used to it and began to feel like his usual self again.

As a day job Natsu was a personal fitness instructor, and sometimes he'd work at a rehabilitation hospital. He had done lots of training to get this job, although it was a lot of hard work, Natsu thoroughly enjoyed it. Of course he would go easy on the people who were really weak, but if it was just some client that was trying to lose some weight, he would go into a frenzy. He would work them to the bone and wear them out completely. If the client didn't quit half way through the course then, by the end of it, they would easily be able to run a 10 mile marathon within a year.

Natsu had been the captain of the basketball team and Gray was the captain of the ice hockey team. They would often have competitions of who could beat the most opponents or who could win the most medals. It was during a hockey match against Phantom Lord did Gray find his future wife Juvia.

Natsu came back home around an hour later and took a 30 minute bath to cool down. "That's better, aching muscles are definitely better than a hangover." Relieved, he sank down underneath the water, with his eyes closed.

 _Natsu:_ _ **"…you look really cute… Luce…. Will I see Luce again…"**_

Images of the blonde flooded Natsu's head once more, however this time it caught off guard, he ended up choking in the bathtub, and hauled himself out. Laying on the floor Natsu coughed the water in his lungs out viciously. After getting most of the water out, Natsu laid on the floor thinking about the few vague memories he had of the cute blonde girl he had met the day before.

A minute or so passed, Natsu got up, stared at himself in the mirror above the sink and then slapped himself.

"You shouldn't be thinking about other girls after you have proposed Natsu!" He told himself off. Unplugging the bath, he switched on the shower to rinse himself.

By the time he had gotten out it was already 2 O'clock, he got changed into reasonable attire, blue shirt and jeans, sat on the sofa and began to watch some comedy shows, to pass the time before his fiancée, Erza Scarlet, arrived.

 _DING DONG_

Natsu switched off the TV and ran to the door, opening it he saw Erza, around her eyes were noticeable bags. She was wearing a black, skinny top with blue shorts. Her hair had been tied in a ponytail with a blue ribbon and she was holding a huge blue bag.

"Didn't you sleep well last night?" Natsu asked.

"Hmm? Oh well… no, I might have gotten a bit excited about the wedding and thought about it all night." Erza gave Natsu a distant smile. He allowed her in and got some snacks out for them to eat.

 _Erza: I can't tell him that I went on a night time ride round town… he'd kill me, and say it was reckless and dangerous. Actually, as if Natsu could say anything about being safe. But seriously if he knew that I went even further and nearly got robbed, then forgot to lock my house door… I don't even want to think about what might happen. Well for now it isn't Natsu's business to know, only after we are married am I required to tell him where I am. Following that principle, I won't ask him why a man, who doesn't drink, house absolutely reeks of alcohol._

Natsu hadn't noticed it, that his house had the strong scent of alcohol: he had already accustomed his nose to the smell. He hadn't washed his clothes from the previous day, nor had he changed his bed sheets. These two things were the main causes of the strong odour in his house.

The two of them sat down in the living room, with a paper and pen, even though both of them were supposed to sort out the dates of the wedding, Erza took complete control, leaving Natsu to laze around on the sofa. At one point Natsu got so bored that he tried to balance a pencil on his nose.

Although it took a while, Erza managed to sort out all the dates, she called for Natsu to get up and handed him the papers to inspect her work.

"THE ENGAGEMENT PARTY IS IN A WEEK?!" Natsu shouted out of surprise.

"Yep, I would have made it earlier but I need to make a dress." Erza responded casually.

"... But what about the venue and the catering?" Natsu inquired.

"The desert is simple we can just get the baker at the port to sort that out."

"We need more than desert Erza"

"Humph… well I could get one of my fashion venues and convince the manager to allow me to have my wedding there." Erza suggested.

"What about the food?"

"… OH I KNOW!" Erza grabbed her bag and took out a leaflet. "We could ask the takeaway that has just opened next to my house!"

Natsu slowly took the leaflet out of Erza's hands and backed away. "How about you let me handle the food, ok Erza?"

"Ok, fine I'll leave that to you since you know more about food then I do. Now all we need to do is invite people"

 _Natsu: thank god she didn't get angry when I said no… usually she would have an absolute fit when someone disagrees or go against her plans._

"We'll use my phone to call them." Natsu offered and got out his phone.

"Call them? No way! We are going to everyone's houses to personally invite them."

"Every…" Natsu stopped himself there as he could tell if he disagreed with her this time, she would hammer him into the ground. He definitely did not want to get on the bad side of the county's top karate champion.

"We need invitations though and by the way Erza could you sort out my suit too?" Natsu asked.

"I thought you would never ask! Of course I'll do it for you, and we'll sort out the invitations right now!" She grabbed her coat and ushered him to leave the house. "We'll take a cab ok? It'll be easier to carry all the invitations in a car than my motorbike." Natsu agreed and the two of them headed towards the main road to catch a cab.

As they were walking down the street Natsu heard a familiar voice. "Stupid Aquarius! Just 'cuz she wants to go out with her boyfriend she forces me to do her shift! Damn if I don't hurry I'll be late."

Natsu looked back to see the blonde girl he had been envisioning all morning. He stopped on the pavement just watching Lucy kick a can down the pavement. Though she claimed she was going to be late, Lucy didn't show any signs of hurrying up.

Erza, who had been talking to him at the time, stopped with him, confused by his actions. She tried to ask what he was doing, but he would just ignore her. She looked in the same direction as Natsu and saw the blonde girl. She was wearing blue jeans with a white leather coat, her attire was so tight it left little to the imagination. Her hair was tied in a small, side ponytail held by a red bobble.

"… Luce…" Natsu whispered.

After a few seconds Lucy noticed Natsu and Erza and stopped walking.

"Hey Natsu do you know this girl?" Erza asked.

"Well…" Natsu was deciding whether he should tell his fiancée who Lucy was, or lie.

However, it was already too late, Lucy had started to wave and half ran, half jogged towards Natsu.

"Hi Natsu!" She looked at him in a confused manner then asked "shouldn't you have a hang-" Natsu's head began to shake violently. Only then did Lucy realise that the red head next to Natsu fit the description of Erza he had told her the day before.

"hang…. Hamburger? Yes, shouldn't you have a hamburger?" Lucy went slightly red but tried her best to keep herself from blushing. She was extremely embarrassed that hamburger was the best she could come up with. An aspiring writer like her, could only come up with hamburger from hangover.

Erza knew immediately that it was a cover up and realised it had something to do with Natsu smelling of alcohol. However she had already said that she wasn't going to ask about it, so she wasn't going to ask.

"My name is Erza Scarlet, Natsu's fiancée. And who may you be?" Erza raised her hand formally.

Lucy's eyes just stared at Erza's hand for a good five seconds.

 _Lucy: Did she just fall for hamburger?! No! Maybe she just…I don't know… trusts Natsu that much._

Only after Erza prompted her, did Lucy return to reality, shook Erza's hand and reply with a smile "My name is Lucy Heartfilia, it's nice to meet you"

"So Lucy, how would you feel about coming to our wedding? We would love to have you there!" Erza said to everyone's surprise.

 _Erza: … Why did I just say that? I didn't know what to say and the wedding was the first thing that came to mind! Well I can see she is a friend of Natsu's, so obviously I'd want her to come to our wedding, but she just lied to me…. Too late now, I guess I just have to follow through…_

Lucy froze with a smile plastered on her face and Natsu was dumbfounded whilst looking at Erza.

"…I would love too…"Lucy automatically said.

"OK I'll give Natsu your invitation as soon as possible. It will state where the venue is and the time, but for now know the engagement party should be next week sometime, you best be there"

Natsu had kept quiet the entire conversation, he knew if he had said anything he would just make things worse. He then realised that Erza was showing a blind eye to his activities after he had dropped her home last night. Even though he was glad Erza wasn't saying anything, Natsu was slightly scared as to why. He definitely knew she should have figured out that something was up by now, but then why keep quiet.

"Natsu I'll go catch a cab ok?" Erza walked away, towards the road, holding her hand out.

"Hey Lucy…" Natsu finally said.

"What happened to Luce, Natsu?" Lucy asked.

"So you liked the nickname I gave you then, Luce?" Natsu said, emphasizing Luce, with a smile. He remembered calling her that but didn't know if he had been rude at the time for dubbing her Luce.

She looked away, her face had become the brightest red, and stuttered "…N…no…"

Natsu placed his hand on Lucy's head, patting it gently "I don't regret what I said yesterday because it's true, you-"

He was interrupted by Erza "Natsu! I caught a cab we should go now!"

"Coming Erza!" Natsu spun around and jogged to where Erza was. He slightly turned his head, put up his hand and said "Catch you later Luce!"

Erza held up her hand too and smiled, then got into the cab followed by Natsu.

Lucy stood there and gazed at the cab as it drove by her.

 _Lucy: I wonder what Natsu was going to say… actually I do know, well I think I know what he was going to say. '_ _ **I don't regret what I said last night because it's true, you are cute'** AHHHH! Stop it Lucy he's a taken man! He probably meant something else like... come on think! What else could he have meant?_

RING RING

She put her hand in her pocket and removed her phone, all the while still in a daze. Not bothering to look at caller ID, Lucy picked up her phone.

"…Lucy, you aren't at work yet are you?" The sound of Aquarius' voice brought Lucy back to reality.

"Work?" Lucy looked at her phone. "Crap! I'm going to be late! Even if I leg it, it'll still take me at least 10 minutes!"

"WELL, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!? LEO CALLED JUST NOW SAYING NO-ONE WAS COVERING MY SHIFT! SO IF YOU DON'T GET YOUR SCRAWNY LITTLE ASS DOWN-"

Lucy had hung up on Aquarius. "Definitely going to regret doing that later. But right now I need to worry about getting to work!"

Stuffing her phone in her coat pocket, Lucy started to run as fast as her legs could go.

* * *

 ** _AN- Thanks to Krazym98 and Denny for reviewing. And to Denny i dont want to reveal the storyline to you but if you look at some of my previous stories you'll get an idea about what kind of drama i like to write about._**

 ** _I hope the rest of you guys enjoy this chapter. Please Read, Like, Follow and most of all review. It really helps when you guys review._**


	5. Live with me

**Chapter 5**

Natsu and Erza walked side by side out of the invitations shop. "Ok was that really necessary?" Natsu asked Erza.

"Hmm?" She replied with an innocent face on. "What do you mean?"

"Ok, two things: 1. why did you invite the shop keeper? And 2. Why did you get over 300 invitations!?" Natsu tried to keep a calm face however, from a soft calm voice, he practically started to shout by the end.

"Well since it is our wedding, I want as many people to come as possible. Honestly, I don't think that 300 invitations will be enough" Erza explained.

"OK if you say so. It is our wedding and I want this day to be memorable" Natsu smiled at her and then wrapped his arm round her shoulder.

"Now that we have finished that, what shall we do?" He asked.

"Well actually I want to start giving the invitations out as soon as possible, actually I want to give them out right now! We will go our separate ways and invite as many people as possible." Erza's eyes were filled with anticipation.

"Sure whatever you want" Natsu agreed and then started to call for a cab. As soon as they reached Natsu's house, Erza gave Natsu a kiss on the cheek and wished him a good evening. She ran to her bike and unzipped her bag, taking out her leather suit.

It was easy enough wearing it over her clothes, she made it so as she loved driving her motorbike but couldn't always wear her leather suit.

After wearing her helmet she got on her bike and ignited the engine. Before another second past she was already speeding down the street. Erza disliked her helmet, she loved to feel the wind hitting against her face but it was against the law to do that. She had once tried and got stopped by the police, luckily her feminine whiles got her out of that situation.

As Erza drove down the street, towards her home, she saw a familiar face digging through a few garbage cans across the road. The sight made her lose focus on driving almost causing her to crash, but, Erza being Erza, managed to regain balance and parked her motorbike on the pavement.

Crossing the road as fast as she could, she shouted "HEY!" The man quickly tried to make a run for it however, by that time, Erza had gotten far too close and managed to stop him in his tracks.

"Your name is Jellal right?" Erza asked.

"Yeah…" Jellal looked at Erza for a few seconds then realised it was the same bike rider from early this morning. "Sorry, I didn't recognise you. It's kind of difficult since you are wearing complete black as well as a helmet you know"

"Oh is that so?" Erza said as she removed her helmet, her hair glistened in the sun making it look as if it was almost on fire.

"Your hair…" He said in awe.

"Hmm? What about it?"

"It's so… red" His comment made Erza laugh a bit. "You think? Never thought of it"

"No I mean it's really beautiful, Scarlett… that's your surname isn't it? It suits you perfectly"

Blushing, Erza thought for a moment. "I'm glad someone complimented my surname, as soon it won't be a part of my name anymore"

"What?! Really how come?" Jellal inquired.

"I'm actually getting married! In a month or so my name will be Erza Dragneel." She admitted. Jellal's face somewhat drooped, he looked slightly disappointed at the revelation and Erza knew it.

"Do you not like the fact that I'm getting married?" She asked, his reaction slightly disheartened her.

"No that's not it… I don't want you to change name, it's perfect and that's a rare thing, for a name to suit its owner." Jellal replied.

"I guess it is a sad thing, to lose my name, the heritage from my parents, but we have to move on." The second Erza said the word 'parents' Jellal flinched. He took a deep breath then said "Hey, I know! Even if you aren't going to be Erza Scarlet anymore, I can still call you Scarlet, like a kind of nickname."

"A nickname? I never really had a nickname… well I've never had a nice nickname... sure! Why not? I've always liked my surname!" Erza smiled and was about to hug Jellal when she smelt something putrid, she had been smelling a softer version of this scent the entire time she had been talking to Jellal but it grew unbearable when she drew nearer to him.

"Jellal, sorry if I'm being insensitive, but are you homeless?" Jellal kept silent.

"That's it! You're coming with me! You are going to attend my wedding too!" She said grabbing at Jellal's ear and dragging him to her bike.

"Ouch! Where are you taking me?" Jellal cried out.

Erza put her free hand on her chin. "This might propose as a problem, I only have one helmet but there are two of us… I'm sure I'll be fine for 10 measly minutes." She thought aloud to herself. "Jellal get on."

"Please Scarlet tell me where you are taking me!" Jellal pleaded.

"Scarlet… I love it! And I'm taking you to my house, you can live there for a while."

"But you can't trust me! You can't just let a stranger into your house. That's irresponsible!"

"I do trust you though because if you weren't trust worthy you wouldn't have warned me, not only that you risked yourself for me yesterday. That alone makes me trust you. Now get on the bike." Erza ordered.

Jellal looked at Erza and knew he had no way out, he had lost without much of a fight.

"But I don't have any money to pay you."

"Oh you will pay me, just not in money."

Jellal looked at Erza, his eyes filled with curiosity.

"Then how? Do I have to do your chores or something?" He asked.

"Nope! All you have to do is attend all my wedding functions." Time froze for Jellal.

 _Jellal: Is she crazy? Or maybe just really kind hearted? Or maybe both? I literally pay nothing for a house, no rent or nothing. I can't say yes to this but then again…_

"Up you go" Erza had forced Jellal onto the bike and got in the front seat. She passed her helmet back saying "You best wear this"

Jellal held it for a second, when Erza revved the engine did he finally put it on. He was overwhelmed by the wonderful perfumes the helmet was emitting. Sweet lavender, jasmine with a hint of strawberry in the mix.

He lost himself in the fumes that even after the bike had parked, Erza still needed to call his name to pull Jellal back into reality.

"You seemed to be enjoying yourself in that helmet… but anyway we're here, pass me the helmet and I'll lead you to my flat." He did as she wished, reluctantly, the world's perfume wasn't as sweet as hers.

He followed her up to the fifth floor and waited as she unlocked the door. "It isn't much but there is a spare bedroom next to the bathroom, which is the third door to your right. My room is straight at the bottom and on the right is the dressing room. The living room is the third door to your left and the kitchen is the second. First doors on either side is either my mirror room or my shoe room and finally the 2nd door to your right is my work room." Erza explained with a mini tour.

"You realise I barely got any of that right?" Jellal exclaimed.

"Most people say the same, but this is what it is." Erza smiled at him, it was only then did it dawn on him "What about your fiancé? Won't he object to this?"

Erza carried on smiling and said "Oh he'll be just fine, we've known each other for almost 15 years and trust each other with our lives."

"If you are completely sure, then thank you."

"No problem!" Erza said whilst going into her room, after a few seconds she came out again and said "Now catch!" throwing a towel at him.

"I guess this is another condition for living in my house. TAKE A SHOWER!" Erza opened the door to the bathroom. "Don't worry about clothes, I should have a few pieces of my male collection somewhere in my dressing room… I think"

"Male collection?" Jellal whispered to himself.

 _Jellal: Maybe it could be her fiancé's clothes, somehow I doubt that. Does she invite random people on the street often, I doubt that too, but I do wonder why she picked me._

He entered the bathroom and immediately switched the shower on. Whilst removing his clothes he realised he had no-where to put them so he neatly folded them and placed them in a corner of the bathroom, claiming he'd retrieve them after he got changed.

 _Jellal: It's been such a long time since I have had a bath, it's probably been a month or so. I've lost track of time ever since I left. You would have thought a 26 year old healthy man, would easily make a living. Well I know from experience it isn't true, I am even leeching off a women. How low can I go? I'm surprised at myself for actually agreeing to this, have I no pride? Maybe her beauty distracted me… No, can't think like that, she has a fiancé already!_

Jellal got in and enjoyed a nice hot shower, he was a bit sceptical about using girl hair products, however he realised if he used them he would smell a little like Erza.

"Hey, Jellal! I've put the clothes on your bed ok? I've ordered a take-away, should be coming in the next half-an-hour or so!" Erza shouted through the door.

"OK!" He called back. The steam was slowly getting to his head, making it hard to breathe. Even though he wanted to enjoy his shower, it was cut short. After drying himself and wrapping the towel around his waist, covering him till his knees, he left the bathroom and entered his own room seeing a very classy male suit on his bed. "Scarlet!"

"Yes!" She called from her own room.

"Are these the clothes I'm wearing? They look a bit fanciful!"

"Sorry, my specialty is women's clothes, the one on your bed is just a rare one off, actually the only one off. Scratch that, it was a one off, but now I'm gonna make an even better one for Natsu! And you either wear that or female clothes!"

"You make no sense but I will wear them if that is my only choice, thank you!"

 _Erza: I make no sense? … OH! I haven't told him I am a fashion designer have I? Hehe, no wonder. My conversations with him might have sounded a bit odd. I'll tell him later. Not only that I don't think I have told that my fiancés name is Natsu, I'll tell him that later too. They seem so obvious to me that I didn't even think that I needed to tell him._

Around ten minutes later Jellal came out of his room tugging and pulling at his suit. He entered the bathroom to retrieve his dirty clothes and shouted to Erza "Erm… Scarlet! Where is your washing machine? If you don't mind I would like to wash my clothes."

Erza opened her bedroom door and called from it "That might be a problem, I don't really like doing chores all too much so I use the launderette a few streets away. Just leave it in the bathroom the next time I go I'll take your clothes along."

Jellal agreed and left his clothes. As he left the bathroom the front door rang. Erza shouted for him to open it and he did, on the other side of the door was the delivery man.

"Hey, I have… your… order" Jellal's formal dressing had slightly caught the delivery man off guard. It looked as if he was just about to attend a ball of some sorts.

Jellal was wearing a black suit that had a slit tail at the back. The inside of the suit was lined with red silk, and made from the finest wool. Though the suit was a few sizes too small and Jellal's wet hair did downgrade the look, his physique was perfect, broad shoulders, tall height and long legs.

"Oh, thanks a lot." Jellal took hold of the food and then called for Erza. She came out of the room wearing the other potential dress for her proposal night.

A pink dress that showed a lot of cleavage with the back was completely open, with only a few strings keeping the entire thing up. Sequins were all over the dress making a beautiful flower pattern. She moved elegantly in the sparkling dress, almost as if she was gliding. Her hair was tied in a bun with her fringe out, and holding it up was a beautiful pink flower.

The moment Jellal saw her his jaw literally drop, not to mention the delivery man's too. Upon seeing the delivery man she walked into the kitchen, retrieved some money and came back out again, only to find both men's stances were completely the same. They were frozen in place.

Erza decided to ignore them, paid the delivery man and shut the door on his face.

Jellal managed to force out the words "Scarlet… What's up with your clothes?"

Erza placed her right hand on her waist and leaned on her left leg. "You like it?" Her smile broadened whilst saying it.

Jellal gulped "… you didn't answer me Erza. Why are you wearing such a…" His face then flushed red causing him to look down. "…a dress?"

"So you don't like it?" Erza said whilst pouting. "I'm a fashion designer, everything people wear should fit the occasion, seeing as you were wearing a very formal suit, I had to wear a formal dress. It like a protocol with me, you might want to get used to it."

 _Jellal: that's a formal dress… but that's… clean thoughts Jellal. She's a taken women, control yourself. Even if she wasn't getting married she still wouldn't want to go on a date with me. I'm a low leeching bum that can't even earn a living._

"Anyway come on Jellal, I'm hungry" Erza slotted her arm into Jellal's arm forcing him to walk towards the living room with the food.

"I have to say this Erza but the living room doesn't fit with what we are both wearing." Jellal said upon arriving at the foot of the living room. They both took a seat on the sofa and placed they

"I realise that but you can't get everything. Honestly there were two reasons why I wore this attire: the first being that it would be awkward for you to be the only one wearing something formal"

 _Jellal: I would have been fine with wearing this on my own, in fact it's even more awkward with you wearing such a…. revealing dress. Is it getting hot in this room or is it just me?_

"And two is… I wanted an excuse to try out this dress. It's from my summer night edition, one of my latest designs. It hasn't even been on the catwalk, let alone been sold in shops. This is the only one in existence, I just wanted to know how you thought of it." Erza looked down as if she was blushing, her pupil occasionally gazing up to look at Jellal's face.

"You want to know how I think of the dress!? Well, erm, it looks nice."

"Nice?" Erza said with disappointment.

"It looks very nice" Erza looked disheartened making Jellal panic.

"You look good, pretty…. Adorable, gorgeous. YOU LOOK SEXY!" Jellal stared at Erza for a second and his face went a bright red. He looked down, took some of the take away and ate in his room alone.

* * *

 **Read and review! Tell me what you think of the story so far and don't forget to like and follow but most importantly REVIEW! please...**


	6. Nightmares

**The right time to fall**

 **Erza's flat**

Jellal restlessly laid on his bed. He had taken off the fancy clothing Erza had given him, so all he was wearing was boxers. He had been trying to sleep for almost two hours but he wasn't the least bit tired. Usually at this time of night, he would wander the streets, salvaging all the wasted food from the restaurants in the area. It had been over 2 months since Jellal had a roof over his head.

Once again Jellal closed his eyes, he didn't want to recall the events with Erza that happened in the evening again and this time he didn't. Instead he saw glimpses of his family one by one; his mother then his father and lastly his ex-fiancée. She stood with her back facing Jellal and swiftly turned around, making her lavishly long, black hair fly gracefully. She had a magnificent smile on her face and gently placed a lock of her hair behind her ear.

Jellal raised his hand and began to take steps forward, he was trying to touch his once love. However, just as he was about to reach her, her smile became sinister. She lifted her hand and admired her engagement ring. She then turned around again to face Jellal's parents, they were laughing and drinking together. Jellal tried to get his parents away from her but ropes had bound his hands and feet. He tried to shout at his parents to get away but they couldn't hear him. He could see them slowly going off into the distance.

The next moment they were all in an office signing a document. All of his restraints were lifted; he began to run towards his parents; to stop them. However, his parents had already signed the document with no qualms and his ex-fiancée had signed it too. Next it was his turn to sign the document, he adamantly refused to do it but when he looked at the document it was already signed with his name. Although he tried to rip it, as soon as he touched the document it disappeared.

He then found himself in a bedroom with his ex-fiancée. Alone. She stood in front of him and once again gave a sinister smile. Jellal charged towards her but everything blacked out. He then saw her, as she laid on the floor, her eye was bruised black and her mouth was bleeding.

"Ultear!" Jellal woke with a start. He wiped the sweat of his face and looked out the window. The early rays of the sun had come out. He got out of bed, changed and went into the bathroom to wash his face.

 _Jellal: Why did that dream come back? Damn it! I don't want to think about that of all things. I won't be able to sleep now. I need to distract myself._

Jellal entered the living room and switched on the TV.

 **Inside the bar**

 _Lucy: damn it's been such a long day. When the hell is my shift ending? Urgh, these customers are so annoying but they are the ones that give me my salary. Be nice Lucy and remember to smile._

Lucy was rushing from customer to customer, each giving her their own version of verbal harassment. She had already grown accustomed to them, mostly, but after getting a scolding from Aquarius about coming late on her cover shift and her parents nagging her about one thing or another she had become tired of everything.

"Hey sugar fill me another!" Shouted a 40 year old man who had been sitting next to the window across the bar. His beard was rugged and teeth were yellow; it was clear he didn't give a damn about his outward appearance. Lucy grabbed a bottle of vodka and felt like throwing it but as she was about to lift it she saw something in the window that drained away all of her frustration. She left the vodka on the table, ran out of the bar and turned towards the alleyway.

 **Erza's flat**

A noise in the living room woke Erza up. She glimpsed at her phone and saw it was 8am in the morning.

 _Erza: gosh! I never wake up this early. I rarely have a need to. It must be Jellal making the noise, why is he up? I guess Jellal did wonder around aimlessly during the nights. He probably could get much sleep because of his sleeping patterns, or maybe what he said to me last night kept him up._

Erza's face went scarlet. She got out of bed and went into the living room only to see Jellal watching the news attentively. "You like watching the news then Jellal?"

Jellal was startled by Erza's presence, he hadn't noticed her walk into the room. He immediately grabbed the remote and switched off the TV. "I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

"Yes you did." Erza didn't care too much for white lies; she would usually just tell things how they were. "But no worries, it nice to wake up early once in a while." Erza smiled at him and saw his eyes were bloodshot. "You didn't sleep well last night? Is there anything wrong, like maybe the mattress is uncomfortable or-?"

Memories of last night slowly cropped back into Jellal's mind but he managed to subdue them since he saw that Erza wasn't saying anything about it. "No, honestly I was so comfortable last night, I am well and truly grateful."

"Then why couldn't you sleep? If there's anything I can do to help." Erza pressed.

"Well, it's quite embarrassing but I had a bad dream. That's all. There's nothing you can do to help that" Jellal looked down in an attempt to hide his face.

"A bad dream isn't embarrassing, and I can help with it. You can tell me what happened. Generally people feel better after they talk about it."

Jellal rapidly stood up. "NO! ...I'm sorry but it's not something I'd like to talk about. It's personal."

"It's alright, I understand you not wanting to tell me. But know this, I'll always lend you an ear." Erza walked towards Jellal and grabbed his arm. "Anyway, since we are up so early, you might as well help me with wedding preparations. I'll be heading to Natsu's place later, you can come along if you want." Erza sat down on the sofa dragging Jellal down with her.

 **Natsu's house**

"I seriously don't understand why we need to invite so many people but I guess I did fall in love with all of Erza, including her extravagance." Natsu sighed as he was trying to sort out the caterers. He had been trying for hours but the engagement party being so close and having so many people invited for it, it was no wonder that no one was willing to cater for them.

Natsu got his coat and decided to take a walk. He didn't know where he was going he just wanted a bit of fresh air. Soon he realised his legs had brought him to 'the Dragons Head'. He looked inside and caught a glimpse of Lucy before she disappeared behind the bar counter.

 _Natsu: that was Lucy just now wasn't it? I guess she has a shift now, maybe I should go say hi. Wait no I can't! I have no reason too, I don't drink… often, and I barely even know Lucy. Damn, I could've given her the wedding invitation now too. But I want to see her. I guess I could get a sneak peek._

Natsu stretched his neck as far as he could to see her again but to no avail. He looked around to see if there was anything he could climb on to get a better view inside and found some dustbins in an alleyway right next to the bar. He climbed on top of them and from there he got a perfect view of Lucy. She was doing as any bartender should be doing; serving her customers. But something was slightly off about her.

"HEY YOU?! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOUR DOING UP THERE? GET OFF MY FRIKIN' BINS!" A man with blonde hair ran out of the back entrance of the bar.

 _Natsu: Crap! I don't want to deal with this crap now! I only came out for some fresh air!_

Natsu jumped off the bins, tipping them all over, and started to run in the opposite direction.

"YOU BETTER NOT COME AGAIN YOU PINK HAIRED HOBO!" The Blonde haired man screamed. Lucy came running into the alleyway in a panic. "Leo why are you screaming?"

Lucy looked at the ground and saw a pile of rubbish. "Hell no I'm not cleaning that!"

"I'm not telling you to clean it Lucy, just go serve the customers. I'll deal with this" Leo seemed almost as exhausted as Lucy did, maybe even more so. Lucy was about to go back into the bar when she asked "By the way, Leo… who was it that made this mess? Was it a pink haired boy?"

"Pink haired… Lucy, do you know him? Because if you do, you'll be clearing up his mess! Wait… he was looking in through the window, wasn't he? Was he signalling you to come outside? Or is he a stalker…. Or both!?" Leo started to panic.

"No! He's definitely not a stalker and he wasn't signalling for me to come outside. I just saw him out of the window that's all" Lucy defended.

"How do you know he's not a stalker if you don't know him, and why did you come outside if he wasn't signalling you to come outside? Lucy the only reason your parents agreed to let you work here was because they knew I'd protect you, so you need to tell me if anything is wrong"

"Nothing is wrong Leo. I do know him, he's a friend that's why I know he's not a stalker and he wasn't signalling for me to come outside either. I don't know why he was there"

"Well that's great! Since you know him you can clear up his mess. The brooms inside and you won't be getting extra pay either. I'll be covering for you in the bar. Now get on with it!" Leo strolled back inside relieved that he didn't have to clear up the garbage.

Lucy stood alone outside, her temper was rising fast. In an effort to vent her anger, she kicked the dustbin hard but all that did was injure her and made her more frustrated.

 _Lucy: Damn you Leo! It's so frickin' cold here and there's so much trash. Well at least I don't have to serve those drunken idiots inside but now I'm going to get stared at by perverted onlookers._

Lucy's phone started to ring. "Oh now what?!" she cried with irritation.

 **Erza's flat**

"Wow! Getting a venue was easier than I thought" Erza said with an accomplished face. She got up and collected her things in one pile and put them in a bag. "Jellal go and get ready we are leaving for Natsu's now."

Erza looked at Jellal and saw that he needed something less flashy to wear in public. She ran into her room full of clothes and looked top to bottom for unisex clothes. She re-emerged with a black hoodie and some loose jeans. She threw them to Jellal and told him to wear them. She then went into her own room and to get dressed.

After half an hour they left the flat. Erza was wearing a red netted top with black slacks, she tied her hair back into a tight pony tail and wore knee length boots. She decided to leave her motorbike at home as she didn't have a suit or helmet to lend to Jellal. Then it occurred to her that she would need to buy Natsu a motorbike suit so that he could ride with her. The thought of getting married excited Erza and a wide smile appeared on her face.

She and Jellal got to the bottom floor and managed to catch a taxi to ride in. When they sat inside Jellal asked "Is it really alright for me to come to Natsu's house? I mean, I'll be intruding, wont I?"

Erza just said it was fine and they carried on with their journey. With every minute of being in the taxi Jellal grew more nervous. "You know what Erza, I don't think I'll be able to meet your fiancé, please don't ask why… I just can't. I'm sorry"

"If you say so, I could tell you were very nervous but I thought you would hold out. You can meet Natsu at the engagement party. I'll take some clothes from him for you alright." Erza said with a hint of disappointment. She then added "And I've noticed that you haven't been calling me Scarlet for a while now, I genuinely did love that nickname you gave me."

"I'm sorry Scarlet… I just didn't know if it was appropriate to call you that anymore."

"I said it was fine to call me that so please do so. If you don't, I may get angry and let me tell you I'm not too sexy then." Erza muffled a laugh and Jellal's face went red.

"Thanks for the warning Scarlet." Jellal said sarcastically as he let out a smile. "Could you stop here please?" The taxi came to a stop. "I know where you live Erza so I'll make my own way home."

"You know where I live? Haha that sounds like you're a stalker! I expect you to be there alright and if you're not I will search every alleyway in this town until I find you and then I'll give you hell, got it?" Erza said with a smile as Jellal got out of the taxi.

"Got it." Jellal replied, then he shut the door and started to walk down the street. On the way he saw a pub called 'The Dragon's Head' he thought about going inside but then realised he had no money.

"PLEASE COULD YOU LEAVE ME ALONE?!" A girl cried from the alleyway. Jellal ran towards the voice, he thought someone was getting attacked, instead he saw a crying girl on the floor throw her phone at the wall whilst being surrounded by trash.

 _Jellal: Do I really want to get involved?_

* * *

 ** _A/N- I hope this chapter wasn't too complicated with all the changes in points of view but oh well, i thought it was fine. I hope you're enjoying the story so far! We are already on chapter 6, time flies in the storyverse... sorry :P I may be reducing the length of these chapters next week because i'm getting really close to some really important exams and i want to keep writing. It's kinda a dilemma but it's alright. If i miss any weeks of story its because of my exams. The oh so busy life of a high school student_**


	7. Do you need a hand?

**The right time to fall**

 **Outside Natsu's home**

Erza paid and got out of the cab and started to walk towards Natsu's house. As she was about to reach his front door she stopped in her track and got her compact makeup out and gave herself a quick touch up before knocking on the door. She waited for a minute before knocking again. She then started shouting "Natsu! Are you in there?"

After realising there wasn't anyone at home, she got out her phone and started to ring him. That's when she heard Natsu's ringtone inside the house. "Damn it, he left his phone at home!" as she said that she sat on his front door step.

 _Erza: What am I meant to do now? I've come all the way here I can't exactly go home now. I guess I could always find Jellal and spend today with him. Wait! I'm supposed to be planning the wedding. I'll just wait for Natsu, he shouldn't be out for long; knowing him, he's probably gone to the shop to buy some food._

 **Outside the Dragons Head**

"Hey are you alright?" Jellal asked Lucy as she cried on the floor. Lucy looked up her eye makeup had smudged all the way down her cheek. "I DON'T WANT TO DEAL WITH YOU PERVERT!" She grabbed an empty Pepsi can and through it at Jellal. He easily hit it away then said "Pervert… erm ok. I guess you don't want my help then. I'll just go then."

He turned around and disheartened, he walked away. "No, wait! I'm sorry! I know you're not a bad guy… I've just had a lot to deal with today."

Jellal stopped in his tracks and turned around "So you'll accept my help?"

Lucy refused to make eye contact with him but nodded. She then got up and wiped away all the smudged make up from her face. Her knees were red because of how she was sitting. She quickly dusted herself off, ran inside, grabbed two brooms and ran back out. "Here catch!" Lucy said whilst throwing a broom towards Jellal. He caught it and began to sweep up the alleyway.

"So I know you've only just met me but do you want to tell me what happened? A friend of mine told me that people generally feel better after they talk about something they found distressing." Jellal said after a couple of minutes of sweeping. Lucy stopped sweeping took a deep breath and then said to Jellal "Well first of all I have to sweep this up because of my idiot friend… well at least I think it was him it could have been some other idiot. Second, I have to worry about all the perverts at my workplace, I have to be nice to them even if they are giving me abuse. It's so frustrating!"

Lucy stopped there to check if Jellal was still listening to her, most people found that whenever she complained about anything they found her annoying. To her surprise, Jellal was leaning on his broom listening attentively to everything she had said. She smiled a little then carried on "Then there's the other employees they always push me around making me do their shifts whenever they want to go on a date. They say to me that I'll understand what they go through when I get a boyfriend. And don't get me started on my parents! They think I'm a thorn in their backsides; when in actual fact they are a thorn in mine. They want me to get married so that I don't have to work in a bar anymore. Every time they call me it's the same thing! They don't even bother saying I love you anymore."

 _Jellal: I think this will last a while. Well at least she's venting instead of keeping it bottled up. I'll let her have her rant._

Jellal sat on the floor and Lucy sat next to him and proceeded in complaining "Basically I come from a wealthy family. They own the Heartfilia railway, I'm sure you've heard of it."

 _Jellal: Yeah I've heard of it. I used to trade with you before Ultear came along._

"So after a while I wanted to be able to provide for myself and left home. I refused to take any money from my family otherwise it would defeat the purpose of me leaving. However, my family obviously didn't want to let me go; so I had to make an agreement with them that I would work at the Dragon's Head as one of my butler's sons own it. But now they aren't happy that I work at a bar. I don't think they realised at first that the Dragon's head was a bar but, oh well, that was their own mistake. Now the only way to rectify their mistake is by getting me married off to someone wealthy."

 _Jellal: This girl has a lot of drama in her life. Well to be honest so do I._

"Hey you know what? That did make me feel better! Thanks a lot… I feel like such an idiot! I haven't even asked you your name before giving you my life story! My name is Lucy, Lucy Heartfilia. What about you?" Lucy went red but she smiled all the way through.

Jellal snickered then replied "My name is Jellal Fernandez…"

 _Jellal: CRAP! I shouldn't off told her my surname! Especially not a Heartfilia! She'll be able to figure out who I am!_

"Fernandez… isn't that one of my family's partners?" Lucy looked suspiciously at Jellal then shrugged. "Well I guess a lot of people could have that name. So what brought you here Jellal?"

Jellal sighed with relief and then answered Lucy's question. "Well one of my friends is getting married. She wanted to prepare something around here so I came along."

"Prepare something. Well, tell your friend that if she needs a caterer then we will be happy to oblige. As soon as we are done cleaning up I'll go and tell Leo ok?" A sudden chill of air passed the two of them.

"Well I'm not sure if I should be the one to be making these arrangements."

"Oh shut it. It's fine if they already have a caterer then just cancel with us. I owe you for helping me out and listening to me."

"If you say so Lucy." Jellal smiled as he got up. He assisted Lucy up when a gust of air came blowing some of the lighter trash away. "We better hurry with the cleaning or all the trash is going to fly away."

* * *

 ** _A/N- I know this chapter is short but please bear with me for the next couple of months. It's going to be really hard for me to make chpters let alone making them long. I will try my best to keep updating every week. Read and Review please! See you next week:)_**


	8. Turmoil

**A couple streets away from The Dragon's Head**

Natsu was running at top speed down the street; he turned to a corner on his left and took refuge behind a wall. "I think I'm far enough away" He peered round the wall then added "and it doesn't look like that crazy blonde guy is trying to follow me either."

He slid down the wall and sat on the floor, slowly catching his breath. "I should've just ran home if he wasn't even going to follow me. This is annoying, but Lucy… she looked like something was troubling her in there. I should've just gone in and asked her what's up; I'm such an idiot!" Natsu slapped his hand on his forehead.

After a few minutes, Natsu got up and started to take the long route to his house; the shorter route would've gone passed the Dragon's Head. Natsu shoved his hands in his pocket and started to kick a random empty coke can he found on the ground. "I made quite a mess back there, didn't I?" Natsu mumbled quietly to himself. "I wonder if Lucy has to clean it up? She already seems to have enough on her plate. Maybe I should go help her."

Flashbacks of his childhood came flooding back to Natsu. All of the times he wrecked stuff at school, got into fights and vandalised. Not once had he ever even thought about cleaning up after himself, why should this time be any different? Then multiple pictures of Lucy wearing her maid costume, blushing after being called 'Luce' and her smiling popped up in his mind. The last image that came up was her being frustrated today.

Natsu abruptly stopped walking, and viciously shook his head.

 _Natsu: Erza! Erza! Erza! Your mind should only contain the thoughts of one woman Natsu!_

He tried to fill his head with the woman he loved, the one he wanted to marry but only Lucy came to mind, she was like a plague. He grabbed his head and fell to his knees. "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" Natsu clenched his teeth together, digging his fingers into his head, then he saw it. Only for a split second he saw Erza with another man drive pass him in a taxi, laughing together.

Everything went blank in his mind. All the tension he felt left his body without a trace. He lowered his hands, got up and started to walk to the nearest shop that sold alcohol.

One bottle, two bottles, three, four, five bottles. Natsu bought as much as his money in his wallet. After leaving the shop with a blank expression on his face, he walked to the closest park and drank to try and heal his heart. To fill the hole that was in it. And to fill the hole it had just created in his life.

 **Outside Natsu's house**

Erza sat on Natsu's porch and repeatedly checked her phone. She had been there for a good 30 minutes before she realised Natsu hadn't just popped down to the shop. She got up and dusted herself off however before she left she got a piece of paper out of her bag and wrote on it and slotted it into the mailbox in the front door.

 _Erza: Where the hell is he? Oh well, I guess he's trying to get a caterer or something, I just wished he could've told me that he wasn't going to be home. I might as well go straight to the flat… that's boring though. I KNOW! I'll go to the 'Cake le Crepe' the place where Natsu proposed to me. Hehe I can't wait to eat that delicious strawberry shortcake._

Erza quickly called a cab and drove away.

 **The Dragon's Head**

"Who's this with you Lucy? Another crazy guy that leaves trash in his wake?" Leo said with snide. Lucy tried to keep a smile but irritation was emitting from her face.

"No Leo. This guy here is someone who can give us some business. So either keep your trap shut or be respectful." Lucy smiled. Jellal stood awkwardly, he didn't know anything about the wedding so didn't have a clue about what to say.

"Business you say?" Leo's interest peaked.

"Yes, it's a wedding too."

"A wedding too. Though I would've preferred if the bride had come to sort this stuff out but I can deal with the groom." Jellal face flushed red and blurted out "NO!"

Leo looked at him in confusion. "No, I'm not actually the groom. Just a friend of the bride." Jellal explained.

"Either way: come into my office sir and we can discuss business there." After leading Jellal to his office he opened the door and indicated for him to sit down.

Before Leo could say anything Jellal spoke "I don't know when the wedding is, though I think it maybe next week sometime. Also I don't know where the venue is either… actually I do know it's in a hall that usually does fashion shows and I don't know if they have a caterer already or not."

"… Why the hell are you here then?" Leo said unimpressed.

"I genuinely don't know."

Lucy then broke into the conversation by saying "Well I brought him here because they MIGHT not have a caterer. I said he could book it and cancel it if they already had a caterer."

"Are you an idiot Lucy? This guy doesn't even know when the wedding is!" Jellal started to slowly back away from the two of them.

"Well I didn't know that he didn't know where or when the wedding was going to take place! But since business is kind of slow right now I thought that should try and capture a potential deal." Lucy argued.

"Well I guess that's true." Jellal was just about to leave the room before getting caught by Leo. "I'll tell you what mister… you know what I don't really care right now, I'll give you our number and you can give it to the couple that's getting married and they can sort out if they want us to cater for them ok?"

"Yeah erm thanks. Sorry about that. And my names Jellal." Leo gave Jellal his business card and ushered him out so that Lucy could get back to serving the customers.

* * *

 _ **A/N- I am genuinely making this up as I go along. I have certain events that I want to happen and an ending for this story but it's SO FUUUUUUN. coming up with new situations to put them in. I'd like to know how you guys think of the story so review as I like reading them. Oh and if your happen to be following my other story Ninja's and Fairies unfortunately i haven't been able to update it this week and it will be unlikely I'll be doing so any time soon so think of that as a temporary hiatus for the next 2 weeks. I honestly only have time to write one chapter and I really enjoy writing this story so thanks for reading the latest chapter of The Right Time to Fall. ADIOS AMIGOS. AU REVOIR. SAYONARA. KHUDAHAFIZ... Do i know anymore languages to say goodbye? I guess not, oh well. SEE YA LATER!**_


	9. I love you?

**In a park near The Dragon's Head**

Gray was walking briskly down a path in the park carrying a bag filled with Cookie Crumble ice cream and plastic cutlery. Juvia's cravings were getting worse and he couldn't be bothered washing the dishes every time she decided she wanted a piece of chocolate cake at 3am in the morning. The sun's rays were barely peeking out from dark clouds that were forming in the sky. Gray picked up his pace not wanting to be caught up in the impending bad weather.

"Hey mum, why does it smell weird near that guy?" A young boy no older than four asked his mum; his eyes were wide dripping with curiosity. His mum avoided her son's eyes and as he was about to point to the person he was talking about when his mum tugged him a little, to force him to walk faster. "Not now Darling." His mum tried to say as calmly as possible. "But mum!" The boy pleaded. As soon as his mother thought she was safely away from the man in question she knelt down in front of her son. She placed her cold hand on her sons face: he was going to flinch but decided not to move away. "Ben, you are a very big boy now. But promise me this, stay away from anyone who smells like that, okay?" Her eyebrows were slightly raised waiting for her son to respond. "Why?"

His mother sighed and lowered her hand and placed it upon his shoulder. "Do you remember your father?" Before her son could answer she quickly added "Of course you don't." She let out a cold laugh. "He left before you even turned one years old." She muttered something foul under her breath before a smile returned to her face. "That man over there is the same as your father. A despicable drunkard. You always said that you wanted to make me happy, then stay away from people that smell like that and definitely do not marry them."

"Hey mum your hurting me," Her son slightly winced at the pain he felt in his shoulder. His mum quickly released her hand and apologised to her son. "But do you understand me Ben?"

Her son nodded; she got up, took his hand and then swiftly left the park. Gray felt bad for eavesdropping but he knew he'd never leave his child; he'd never leave Juvia. He glanced down the path the mother and her child had just come from and saw the infamous pink he knew so well.

Gray glanced at the ice cream in the bag then at the sky and then sighed. He walked towards Natsu; he knew how to sort out his priorities and a friend that's drunk in the park, before mid-day, a week before his wedding day took top spot.

He sat down beside Natsu gently pushing aside all empty beer bottles. "What's up man?" Gray glimpsed towards Natsu and nudged him. "Just leave me alone?" Natsu mumbled under his breath.

A drop of water landed on Gray's cheek.

"Natsu you know this isn't you." Gray gestured towards the empty bottles. "Where's that idiotic goofball that does whatever he wants? You even got strangers warning their kids to stay away from you." Natsu gave him a deadly stare, his eyes clearly bloodshot. Gray was taken aback but didn't he didn't relent with his enquiry. "Natsu you're getting married next week. You can't be getting wasted just before it!"

"Who are you to tell me what I can or can't do!?" Natsu exploded, he rapidly stood up and smashed a bottle onto the floor. Its contents spilling across the path. "So it is the wedding that's bothering you." All the anger that was visible on Natsu's face faded away and he sat back down putting his face into his hands. "No… it's… I don't know! I'm just confused!" Gray sighed "If you don't tell me what you're thinking I can't help you"

Natsu remained silent. "From the way you proposed to Erza it seemed like you really loved her. What happened from then till now to make you go into this nightmare?"

Natsu gulped then said cautiously "I… saw her with another man"

"Erza and another man? Are you kidding!? That's one of the most stupid things I've heard you say! Erza is one of the most loyal people you could meet! Have you even spoken to her about it with her?!" Gray ranted.

"No…"

"Well then speak to…" Natsu cut Gray off. "Of course I know she'd never cheat on me. Damn it I'm just being a coward. The truth is I… I don't know if I love her. I saw this other girl and I…" Gray cut him off this time.

"You're an idiot you know that right? Of course you'd look at other women. When I proposed to Juvia I questioned myself too. I asked myself if I really wanted to spend my entire life with one women, if she could spend her entire life with me. I found myself looking at other women but then I realised none of them were her. None of them could compare to the women I loved. The women you love. Trust me when I say it's a phase that will pass. You love Erza and that's all there is to it." The sky let out the storm that had been brewing inside it; showering the world in its pure and cleansing water. The liquor that had been spilt on the floor slowly washed away.

Natsu got up "You're right! I am an idiot! I'm going to go see Erza right now!" Natsu took a step forward and collapsed; Gray just about saved him. "How about you see her tomorrow?" Natsu just raised his thumb as nausea overtook him. "Okay let's get you back home" He said whilst he hauled Natsu's arm around the back of his neck and lifted him up.

 **Natsu's house**

"We are finally here!" Gray gasped out. "Where are your keys?" He glanced towards Natsu and saw that he had passed out on his shoulder. "No wonder you were so heavy, you didn't even help carry your own weight" Gray searched Natsu's body until he found his keys then he got Natsu inside. They were both soaked to the bone. Gray left Natsu on the sofa and took out his phone to see that he had 6 missed calls from his one and only. He called Juvia saying that he had seen a friend at the shop and they started to talk and lost track of time, he then reassured her that he got her ice cream. Before putting down the phone he said that he would be home in around 10 minutes. He couldn't exactly tell her what just happened to Natsu. The best course of action would just be let things lie and make sure no one found out about it.

"Natsu, wake up! You can't sleep like that you'll get sick idiot!" Natsu just mumbled in his sleep. Gray swore under his breath then he took off Natsu's shirt and trousers. He grabbed a blanket from Natsu's bedroom and threw it over him. Gray looked at the ice cream in his bag and saw that it all had melted. He took it out and put it into Natsu's freezer. "You better eat that you numbskull, because of you I have to go buy another one."

As Gray was leaving he saw a note on the floor near the front door and picked it up. He had been concentrating on not dropping Natsu that he didn't even notice it. "It's from Erza"

 _ **Natsu**_

 _ **I don't know where you are right now but you should know better than to make a lady wait. I have something really important to tell you and this note is not exactly the best place to write it. As soon as you read this could you give me a call and then come to my flat.**_

 _ **I love you, xx 3**_

 _ **Erza**_

"I wonder what this is about. I should put it someplace Natsu will see it, the kitchen counter will do it he's bound to be hungry as soon as he wakes up." Gray left as soon as he placed Erza's note there.


End file.
